Manchester United transfer news: Chinese Super League club in £100m deal to tempt Wayne Rooney to China

Shanghai Shenhua are ready to make Wayne Rooney one of the highest paid players in the world as the Chinese Super League club attempt to tempt the Manchester United captain to China.

Players from Europe have been steadily streaming to China in the last month or so, with several high-profile moves taking place, including that of Ramires, Gervinho and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Liverpool, despite being one of the biggest clubs in the world, lost out to Jiangsu Suning in the battle for Brazil forward Alex Teixeira, with the Chinese club able to offer a lot more, in terms of transfer fee and wages, than the English Premier League side.

While several stars, still in their prime, have shifted to China, the Chinese Super League is looking for a marquee signing to beat all marquee signings and they have identified Rooney as the perfect man.

Manchester United is one of the most well-supported clubs in the world, with the England international having a huge following in China.

With Rooney as the face, the Chinese Super League will make giant strides in football, and, therefore, Shanghai Shenhua are prepared to pay the 30-year-old a staggering £500,000 ($716,375) a week in wages, according to the Daily Mirror. The deal, which is being proposed after the end of the current season in Europe, will be for a three-year term, which means the former Everton forward will earn around £26 million a year ($37.2m) in wages alone.

Manchester United has already rejected a £27 million ($38.6m) bid from the Chinese Super League club, but, according to the report, another team is also ready to come in and battle it out for Rooney's signature, which means the money could rise even further.

The big question, despite all the money on offer, though, is if Rooney will even consider shifting base to China. The striker's family is pretty well settled in the Northeast of England, and his wife Coleen will have a big say in the matter.

Rooney also has a few years remaining on his not-quite-as-lucrative-as-the-China-one-but-pretty-big-nevertheless contract with Manchester United, who, despite the forward's waning talents, will not be too keen to lose one of their biggest assets.

However, everything will depend on the player himself. If Rooney feels it is time for a new challenge, the 30-year-old might just force Manchester United's hand; that remains unlikely, though, because the England captain will want to play at the highest level for as long as possible.